drifting in a low power car

[CrazyHawaiian]

Make up for lack of power with more momentum (aka speed).

[makai]

Wouldn't that require more track space, as well as intervals of time in between each drift. That sounds kinda boring imo.

[soultron]

Sounds like what Ueo does. Not boring. scary.

[makai]

In either case... I wouldn't want to do it like that.

[Drift For Food]

Not boring...required. You're bound by the laws of physics and by the limitations of the car. Don't expect a 10hp 2 ton car to hold a drift long without serious techniques to compensate the inability to break rear traction through throttle. Also don't expect it to both drift wildly and carry speed in sucessive corners.

With less power comes more precise/less showy and carefully chosen drift points. You will maintain heavier throttle(probably barely ever letting off), use less of an angle, and maybe drift for a shorter period of time. As well, you may sacrifice one corner to allow you to build up speed for the next corner. You have to adapt and do as much as you can with what you've got.

[CrazyHawaiian]

Well thats the one thing I notice about the Hachi guys at our Drift Sessions. Lance, Justin, Stan, Royce, and others that IMO are really really good. They dont have as much power as everyone else but they drift just as good. How do they do it? One thing I notice is that speed plays an important role. Because they cant rely on lots of power to throttle through turns or initiate earlier, they build up more momentum. And once they're in the slide its full throttle the entire way through. I have video of them doing some pretty insane slides and all of them were high speed.

[balmo]

hehehe,to that i could relate. last drift event we went the course was so tight, the straightaway before 1st corner was really short. i am (and most corolla guys) sayin' to myslef: "great! no room to build speed".

Well thats the one thing I notice about the Hachi guys at our Drift Sessions. Lance, Justin, Stan, Royce, and others that IMO are really really good. They dont have as much power as everyone else but they drift just as good. How do they do it? One thing I notice is that speed plays an important role. Because they cant rely on lots of power to throttle through turns or initiate earlier, they build up more momentum. And once they're in the slide its full throttle the entire way through. I have video of them doing some pretty insane slides and all of them were high speed.

[cfrost]

hehehe,to that i could relate. last drift event we went the course was so tight, the straightaway before 1st corner was really short. i am (and most corolla guys) sayin' to myslef: "great! no room to build speed".

hahahaha....exactly! That's why I used to start 1-2 car lengths behind the start line with my corolla

[makai]

Because they cant rely on lots of power to throttle through turns or initiate earlier, they build up more momentum. And once they're in the slide its full throttle the entire way through. I have video of them doing some pretty insane slides and all of them were high speed.

Can you put a link to this video?

[soultron]

hahahaha....exactly! That's why I used to start 1-2 car lengths behind the start line with my corolla

1 to 2 car lengths? I'm at 3 1/2. 60 hp of fury.

[ryans]

Hope this is some inspiration. Mostly just takes practice. Most people just do drift events and they expect to get good. You have to get out there and learn how to take a course. I would suggest doing some HPDE events. They are exspensive but IMO they are worth it. At first at those events you wouldn't drift, or even mention it. By your 6th or 7th event when your running in the higher classes the drifting starts to come naturally.

My car is a 1984 N/A. It dyno's at 125HP at the wheels. I replaced the clutch with a Sachs Power Clutch and it has limited slip. If your car doesn't have limited slip it maybe harder to drift or to keep it up.

Also some suspension mods and the type of tires you run makes a difference.

Good luck and maybe i'll see you out there.

http://www.drifting.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13636

[944drift]

its soo good to see someone drifting a 944. I have one too and they are a lot of fun. I have never understood why these cars arnt more popular in drifting. They are light have great handeling and most come with an lsd. Im savin for a 951(little faster).

[brainfood]

Well the speed is a big thing I noticed last time that I was out that there were only 2 ka powered cars me and another s14 all the other 240's were either sr or rb, the difference between those cars and mine as far as technique is I would come down the back straight into a long 2nd gear decreasing radius sweeper full throttle and then bang into 3rd to initiate then full throttle till about the apex downshift and power out in 2nd making for a very fast drift. the other guys with more power would come in on the brakes/ebrake or clutch kick but then off throttle most of the corner and power out. It really is all about speed when you have no power, but then even with more power I think I would carry more speed and just use the ebrake to slow down mid drift it is more my style I am on the ragged edge most of the time and do my share of being off track but if I am not pushing it it's no fun. The course I normally drift I have down with a good line and good speed but I usually push it and it has really helped me to get better even after having the course down. First thing to learn is good car control how to control a spin and off course because not all the tracks are as forgiving as the parking lot with cones even if you are drifting in a parking lot with a cone course try to avoid off course and hitting the cones it will help a lot to get used to it now before you are backing up towards hay bales full brakes and full ebrake praying you stop in time

[driftersil80]

Question: how do you fix your gear ratios from clutch kicking? Also, how bad does this mess them up????